UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM
6-K
REPORT
OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER PURSUANT TO RULE 13A-16 OR 15D-16
OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the
month of January 2009
Commission
File Number: 001-13944
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NORDIC
AMERICAN TANKER SHIPPING LIMITED
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(Translation
of registrant’s name into English)
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LOM
Building, 27 Reid Street, Hamilton, HM 11, Bermuda
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(Address
of principal executive office)
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Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under
cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F
[X] Form 40-F
[ ]
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted
by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): ___
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted
by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)7: ___
INFORMATION
CONTAINED IN THIS FORM 6-K REPORT
Attached as Exhibit 1 is a press
release of Nordic American Tanker Shipping Limited, dated January 5, 2009,
announcing its acquisition of a Suezmax tanker and expected dividends for the
fourth quarter of 2008.
Exhibit
1
Nordic
American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (the Company) – (NYSE:NAT)
Announces
Accretive Acquisition and Expected Dividends for the 4th Quarter
2008.
Hamilton,
Bermuda, January 5th,
2009.
Nordic
American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (NYSE:NAT) (the “Company”) announced today that it
has agreed to acquire a double-hull Suezmax tanker which is expected to be
delivered to the Company by March 15, 2009. The agreed price for the acquisition
is $56.7 million.
Management
expects that the Company’s quarterly dividend and earnings per share will be
higher after the delivery of the vessel than had the purchase not taken
place.
This
acquisition will increase the Company’s fleet to 15 double-hull Suezmax vessels,
including the two previously announced newbuildings the Company has agreed to
acquire. These newbuildings are expected to be delivered by the end of 2009 and
by the end of April 2010, respectively. The Company has no net debt at this
time and an unused credit line of $500 million. The acquisition is expected to
be financed from out of the Company’s financial resources.
The
vessel to be acquired was built in 1999 and was dry-docked in December 2008. The
vessel has been controlled by one shipping group since it was delivered from the
Samsung shipyard in 1999. After the acquisition, the Company will own
seven vessels built at this yard, facilitating further economies of scale
and cost-efficient operations. The vessel is expected to be employed in the spot
market.
Typically,
based on the dividend model of the Company, also going forward the dividend can
be expected to show volatility of the same nature as the spot Suezmax tanker
market rates. The Company announced that its dividend per share for
the 4th quarter
of 2008 is expected to be approximately $0.85 per share. The dividend for the
comparable period of 2007 was $0.50 per share. The average charter rate level
for the Company’s trading spot fleet, including offhire days, is estimated to be
in the range of $40,000 per day per vessel for the 4th quarter
of 2008. In the 4th quarter
of 2008 the fleet of the Company had 35 days offhire due to unscheduled repairs
during the quarter. The spot rate contracts entered into for 2009 at
the time of this writing are well above the level achieved on average for the
4th
quarter of 2008.
As a
matter of policy, the Company does not predict future spot rates. The Company is
not involved in derivative contracts of any nature.
The
Company’s Chairman and CEO, Herbjørn Hansson, commented:
“The
acquisition of this high quality vessel will increase the dividend and earnings
capacity of the Company and we expect this acquisition to be
accretive. Further acquisitions are under planning. We are
continuously working to enhance the Company’s ability to pay quarterly dividends
based upon the Company's dividend model which we expect will
continue. The Company has now paid dividends for 45 consecutive
quarters. We believe that our strong balance sheet, well defined and
transparent operating model provide the Company with a solid competitive
position going forward.”
Cautionary
Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Matters
discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking
statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to
encourage companies to provide prospective information about their
business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning
plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and
underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of
historical facts.
The
Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary
statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. This press release
and any other written or oral statements made by us or on
our behalf may include forward-looking statements which reflect our views with
respect to future events and financial performance. The words “believe,”
“anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “project,” “plan,” “potential,”
“will,” “may,” “should,” “expect,” “pending” and similar expressions identify
forward-looking statements.
The
forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various
assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions,
including without limitation, our management's examination of historical
operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from
third parties. Although we believe that these assumptions were
reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to
significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to
predict and are beyond our control, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or
accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. We undertake
no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise.
Important
factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from
those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world
economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in
charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand in the tanker market, as a
result of changes in OPEC's petroleum production levels and world wide oil
consumption and storage, changes in our operating expenses, including bunker
prices, dry-docking and insurance costs, the market for our vessels,
availability of financing and refinancing, changes in governmental rules and
regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from
pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political
conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or
political events, vessels breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other
important factors described from time to time in the reports filed by the
Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the prospectus
and related prospectus supplement, our Annual Report on Form 20-F, and our
reports on Form 6-K.
Contacts:
Scandic
American Shipping Ltd
Manager
for:
Nordic
American Tanker Shipping Limited
P.O Box
56, 3201 Sandefjord, Norway
Tel: + 47
33 42 73 00 E-mail: nat@scandicamerican.com
Rolf
Amundsen, Investor Relations
Nordic
American Tanker Shipping Limited
Tel: +1
800 601 9079 or + 47 908 26 906
Gary J.
Wolfe
Seward
& Kissel LLP, New York, USA
Tel: +1
212 574 1223
Turid M.
Sørensen, CFO
Nordic
American Tanker Shipping Limited
Tel: +
47 33 42 73 00 or + 47 905 72 927
Herbjørn
Hansson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Nordic
American Tanker Shipping Limited
Tel: +1
866 805 9504 or + 47 901 46 291
SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has
duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto
duly authorized.
NORDIC AMERICAN
TANKER SHIPPING LIMITED
(registrant)
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Dated: January
5, 2009
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By: /s/ Herbjørn
Hansson
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Herbjørn
Hansson
Chairman,
Chief Executive Officer and President
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SK 01318 0002
952374